The Buying Game (Issue 30)
This week's picks include wireless ANC earbuds, a 4G home internet backup, and a phone game controller.
How I’d spend $500: Sony WF-1000XM6
Sony's latest premium wireless earbuds compete with the Bose QuietComfort Ultra Earbuds and Apple's AirPods Pro 3. In terms of active noise cancellation and audio quality, the 1000XM6 go toe-to-toe with each of those, and in some areas, best those two. I've used the 1000XM6 for a couple of weeks and like what I've heard. If you want Sony's latest audio gear, then the earbuds work well.
Price: $330 (link)
Value Score: Poor
While the 1000XM6 earbuds have great ANC and audio quality, they're also some of the most expensive consumer buds. Bose's QC Ultra Earbuds retail for $300, and Apple's AirPods Pro 3 retail for $250. That value isn't good at the moment, but I would expect these to go on sale sooner or later.
How I’d spend $150: Eero Signal
The Eero Signal is solving a very interesting problem of what to do when your home internet goes out. The Signal is a backup cellular connection that pipes directly into your existing home network. So, if your cable or fiber connection goes down, a cellular one can kick in. With Eero's Plus subscription, you get 10 GB of data per year. You can get up to 100 GB of backup data per month with the more expensive plans.
Price: $99 (link)
Value Score: Good
A 5G version is coming later, but it retails for $199. However, if this is being used as a backup and is only used a couple of times per year, then I'm inclined to recommend the cheaper 4G LTE option. Save some money while still having an internet fallback.
How I’d spend $50: Abxylute M4
Despite plenty of mobile games working just fine with touch controls, a physical controller will improve the gameplay most of the time. This Abxylute M4 is small enough to toss in a backpack or even carry in a jeans pocket. That means it'll probably get used more often. It has buttons and a D-pad, as well as two joysticks. It uses Bluetooth for gaming, but also connects magnetically to an iPhone to hold it in place.
Price: $50 (link)
Value Score: Fair
The Abxylute M4's $50 pricing is a bit of a splurge compared to some console controllers. But if it works as expected, then its clever functionality and compact size might be worth the extra cash.
The winning pick: Eero Signal
I've tried T-Mobile's home internet service and it was okay, at best. Relying on cellular connectivity full-time, for all of your home streaming and gaming, isn't ideal or practical for a lot of people. However, I really like the idea of having a cellular option that seamlessly starts working when your regular connection goes down. You will need Eero routers to use this, but those have become fairly common in recent years.
Are you looking for even more picks this week? Here are a few things worth considering.
An expensive pick: Anker SOLIX C2000 Gen 2
The Solix c200 Gen 2 is a big backup battery. It has 10+ outputs, including five AC outlets. It can also accept six different input methods, so you shouldn't run out of ways to recharge this power source. Despite having a capacity of 2,048Wh and being powerful with 2,400 watts (4,000W peak), it only weighs about 40 pounds. It may be too late to get you out of a winter jam this year, but this is the type of investment that most homeowners should consider.
Price: $799 [regularly $1,499] (link)
Media pick: Rooster
Creating a good comedy series is like walking a tightrope. The jokes, overall tone, characters, and emotional resonance all need to be spot on, with confident footing, or it wobbles and falls off. While it's hard to tell if Rooster on HBO Max will be that series, it certainly appears to be, based on this two-minute trailer. This seems like an excellent role for Steve Carell.
This week's other interesting deals and product news
- T-Mobile is rolling out live translation to any phone on its network, without the need for an app. It can translate to different languages in near real-time.
- YouTube TV is launching new plans, including one focused on sports. The Sports Plan costs $64.99 per month, $18 per month less than the regular YouTube TV, and offers access to FS1, NBC Sports Network, all of the ESPN networks.
- Anker's portable 25W Prime Wireless Charging Station just launched and is down to $120 with the Amazon coupon.
- The Google Pixel 9a phone is down to $399, from $499, right now.
- Apple launched its new version of Xcode 26.3 with support for agentic coding.
This week's published stories
- Sony WF-1000XM6 wireless earbuds review [Business Insider]
- Ranking this year's tech Super Bowl ads [Yahoo]
- Taylor Swift's "Opalite" music video is one of her best [Yahoo]
- Anker Prime Wireless Charging Station review [Yahoo]
- Topo Designs is having a sale on travel and laptop bags [Yahoo]